When the St. Lawrence Seaway was opened 50 years ago, it promised to move the ocean 1,000 miles inland, boost commerce, and light cities. But some think it has been an environmental nightmare.

"AmerenIP hopes to begin a massive environmental clean-up at the former site of McCabe Scrap Iron & Materials Co. [in Galesburg, Ill.,] by September or October. Galesburg Gas Light & Coke Co. produced gas beginning in 1861 at the 3-acre site, with coal tar as a waste product."

The Cuyahoga River, which became a symbol of pollution when it caught fire 40 years ago, has come back to life.

"Five wildlife protection groups today filed legal action challenging the removal of Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region."

"Nearly a month after the onset of a navigational dredging project in the Saginaw River that some worry will send dioxin-contaminated sediments downstream toward the intakes for Bay City’s water supply, EPA officials responded to citizen concerns by announcing it would not test the water for the toxin."

"At least 10,000 more properties in residential neighborhoods of Evansville will be tested for lead and arsenic contamination in the soil of their yards" from foundries going back to the 1880s.

"The largest, deepest and coldest Great Lake holds another distinction -- the highest levels of the contaminant toxaphene in the region and possibly anywhere in the world."

"Even today the Great Lakes landscape is bouncing back from the glaciers that retreated 10,000 years ago. A key question researchers recently sought to answer is whether that has anything to do with fluctuating lake levels."

A historic ferry that carries cars and passengers across Lake Michigan is still dumping ash from its coal-fired engines into the Lake -- legally.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday cited the BP Whiting Refinery for violating federal air standards by releasing a cancer-causing toxin in waste from 2003 to 2008, which at times reached 16 times the acceptable limit, EPA officials said."

Development of wind power in Minnesota is being frustrated by a clogged up capital market.

Wisconsin's landmark out-of-basin diversion of the Great Lakes is getting both praised and blasted by water watchers.

"The Michigan Legislature may soon create a fund to loan schools money to build windmills, solar panels or other sources of alternative energy."

Canadian scientists are taking a closer look at dioxin-like contaminants in the Great Lakes called polychlorinated naphthalenes. They accumulate in fish and are toxic to humans.

"Fighting off shareholders’ environmental resolution, Dow cites inaccurate information in its SEC filing"